A caged metabolic precursor for DT-diaphorase-responsive cell labeling

In this study, we report incorporation of a covalent linker at the anomeric position of N-azidoacetylmannosamine (ManNAz) for caging its metabolic process. We synthesized a DT-diaphorase-responsive metabolic precursor, HQ-NN-AAM, using an optimized linker. The caged metabolite showed responsiveness to DT-diaphorase in vitro, resulting in metabolic incorporation of an azido sugar into the cell surface in multiple cell lines.